Common Craft Blog

When it comes to research, search engines are not enough.

Waiting just out of their sight is a world of valuable resources called the Hidden or Deep Web and understanding it makes research more effective. This video is perfect for schools or libraries who need better ways to teach research.

What it Teaches:

This video is designed to highlight the major differences between the normal web sites we see in search results and the databases, services and websites that are found in the Hidden or Deep Web. It teaches:

How deep web resources are different than public websites and search results

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Back in 2007, Sachi and I had an idea. YouTube was just getting started and we wanted to make videos that explained technology. After a few failed attempts, Sachi suggested pointing a video camera at a whiteboard and recording human hands moving paper cut-outs and markers on the screen. This was the birth of Common Craft videos and our first video was RSS in Plain English, what many consider the first explainer video of the YouTube era.

Sachi in 2007 with out 1st generation whiteboard setup

Since then, a lot has changed, but the basic format of Common Craft videos has remained the same. The 80+ “ready made” videos we license to educators all use live-action, stop-motion animation with paper cut-outs. For each video, we print, cut-out and animate every piece of paper that appears.

We film the video over 3-4 hours and then Sachi edits it all together with a voice-over. It’s all very time-consuming.

And now, we’ve made a decision to adjust our method. Common Craft is going digital. Let me explain...

Finding a Better Way

In reviewing our time and priorities, we saw that the video production method we’ve used since 2007 is complex and involves extensive time, equipment (lights, camera, software) and know-how. Unlike so many other parts of our work, the process had not evolved to be more efficient.

An Idea Was Born

We started asking ourselves what really mattered and what could change after nearly ten years. We considered questions like:

What if we experimented and developed a new, more streamlined method for making Common Craft videos?

What if the method we develop is focused on simple, inexpensive, DIY tools (like presentation and screencasting software) that almost anyone can use?

In the end, we gathered feedback and agreed that our work as explainers is grounded in our process for writing and refining scripts, and developing visual stories.

While stop-motion animation and on-screen hand gestures served us well, they were not required for creating the same compelling explanations that our fans and members love to use.

So, we started experimenting and developed a simpler production method over the last year that’s all digital. In fact, this method was what we used to create the 60+ videos in the Explainer Academy and is the exact same method we teach in the DIY Media Maker Course. It's known as "Common Craft Style".

Looking Ahead

Starting immediately, future videos for the Common Craft Video Library will be created in digital format. We’ll be developing the same scripts, storyboards, visuals and voice-overs as before, but the visuals will be animated with software instead of edited video footage.

With this new efficiency, we're excited to create more videos and hopefully continue to inspire others to become explainer video creators.

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You've heard of open source software and you may even use it every day. But have you ever wondered why it matters? That's one of the questions we're hoping to answer with this video. How is open source different from proprietary software? Why is open source software useful and popular?

What it Teaches:

This video follows the story of a software developer who created a new tool and is trying to figure out how the tool will be shared and supported in the future. It teaches:

• Why open source makes sense for some types of software
• How open source differs from closed source, or proprietary software
• What motivates people to work on open source projects
• How businesses work with open source software

From what you see in movies and on TV, it's easy to think that true artificial intelligence has arrived. But in reality, it's still mostly a dream.

What it Teaches:

The goal of artificial intelligence is to create computers that are as intelligent as humans. Achieving this goal is a huge, huge challenge. Today, researchers are making progress and forms of artificial intelligence are starting to appear in everyday life. This video teaches:

Why artificial intelligence is so challenging to create

How we use forms of artificial intelligence today

What is required for computers to teach themselves

Why empathy and emotional intelligence are very difficult for computers

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Have you ever heard the term "Death by PowerPoint"? It's a reference to presentations that are disorganized and go on forever. It's a plague and we want to help.

Our latest video was suggested by members and is designed to teach students an essential 21st century skill: how to plan a presentation so that it's organized and easy to follow.

What it Teaches:

All great presentations have one thing in common: they are well organized. This video illustrates how to plan your next presentation so that your audience easily understands what you have to say. It teaches:

The Common Craft libraries continue to grow.

The new video explains algorithms - what they are and why they matter.

What it Teaches:

This video is an introduction to the basic ideas of algorithms. It explains how computers, websites and digital products need instructions that answer the question “what should I do next?” in order to complete tasks, serve customers and gather information. It teaches: